Apparatus for winding material



E. E. FRANZ APPARATUS FOR WINDING MATERIAL 3 9 EL 5, l uw F Original Filed Feb. 9, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet `1 www A T Tommy Feb'. 15, 193.

E. E. FRANZ APPARATUS FOR WINDING MATERIAL Original Filed Feb. 9, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PTENT @FHQE APPARATUS FOR WINDING MATERIAL Erwin E. liranz, Cranford, N. J., assgnor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York UNirso star i Original application February 9, 1935, Serial No. 5,743. Divided and this application December 11, 1935, Serial N0. 53,957

5 Claims. (Cl. 242-9) This invention relates to an apparatus for Fig. 1 is a broken schematic view in side elewinding material and more particularly to an vation of a machine constructed in accordance apparatus for applying strand material and sheet with the invention and adapted to wind insulated material upon an article or core at one operation Wire and paper sheets in alternating layers upon 5 in alternate layers. a prsmatic core; 5

This application is a division of application Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken detail view in sec- Serial -Number 5,743, filed by the same inventor tion on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3; under date of February 9, 1935. Patentable sub- Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken detail View in ject matter disclosed but vnot claimed in this transverse section of a portion of a core being l application is claimed in one of the following apwound in the machine; l0 plications led on the saine date herewith, Serial Fig. 4 is a broken schematic view in plan cor- Number 53,958, Serial Number 53,959, or Serial responding to Fig. l; Number 53,960. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detached perspective View In the art pertainingI to electrical coils, there is of one of the air blast housing SeCtiOrlS; l5 a class or variety of coil having 'a core of either Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan View 0n an eI1- 15 solid or axially hollow form and of either rnaglarged scale of a portion of the driving belt, and netic or non-magnetic material in which an in- Fig. 7 is a section on the line l-l of Fig. 6. sulated electrically conductive strand is Wound 1n the embodiment herein disclosed, a core in concentric layers back and forth over the driving belt t@ runs over a driving drum 10- Q0 peripheral surface of the core, which peripheral tatably mounted in xed position and driven by 20 surface may be cylindrical in some instances or a belt 22 from a motor 23. The belt 2d runs also prismatic in others. In such coils it may be deover a Xedly positioned idler drum 2d and over sirable to place further insulation between cona tensioning drum 25 whose shaft 25 is supported secutive helically wound layers of the conductive on and urged upwardly by resilient means such 25 strand, in the form of sheets of paper or other 21S e CGmpTeSSOD Spring 2- 25' insulating substance, and ordinarily each such A shaft or spindle 28 iS mounted as Shown to sheet is so dimensioned and applied that its exlie Dalellel t0 the Slllfaee O the belt and iS tremities overlap each other to form a cornadapted t0 leeeVe Mld SuDlJOt a C011 @Ore 29 pletely closed cylindrical or prismatic surface for winding insulated wire Se and paper sheet inso between two complete layers of conductor. Sulaton 3! thereon, the Wire being drawn as 30 An object of the present invention is to prorequired from asupply reel 32 and the papel' from vide a simple and effectively operating .apparatus a supply drum 33 sach appropriately supported which may be applied to the manufacture of aiu and mounted in the relative positions shown. 'ticles having layers of strand. The drum` 33 and reel 32 will be provided with 3s One embodiment of the invention contemplates Customary means (not shown) to afford tension 3'5 substantially automatically operating apparatus on the material being drawn helefOfL provided with means to hold an article such as a The belt 2t runs against the under face of the coil core, meansto hold a supply of sheet mate- COle i C1 0f the Wire alld/ 01" papel" WOllrld thererial and of strand material, and means to apply on and thus drives the core and therewith the .m the sheet material and the strand tothe core or shaft 2t in rotation. A distribution control rod 40 other article in alternate layers, the strand being 34 Oriented parallel t0 the Shaft 23 iS mounted applied by a continuous winding operation and to slide freely longitudinally in a pair of supports the sheet being out to appropriate lengths and 35 supported in any suitable fashion, and the rod applied intermittently by a pneumatic device over is provided Substantially midway Of its length each completed layer of strand, together with witha transverse perforation 3i; which nts loosely 45 means to distribute the strand and means to about the strand 3B threaded therethrough. modify the length ofsuccessive sheets of mate- Stops 3i are rigidly positioned in line with the rial to be intercalated between strand layers to ends Gf the 10d and are SO SDdCed that When a conform to the changing peripheral Sigg complete layer of strand is laid on the core the o0 Other objects and features of the invention rod carried ale-Dg bythe strand will bump against 50 will appear from the following detailed descripone or other of the stops and by its slight retion of one embodiment thereof taken in connecbound therefrom will start the strand to coil tion with the accompanying drawings in which in a reverse direction, the distribution of the like reference numerals are applied to identical strand in snugly abutting turns during the windparts in the several figures and in vwhich ing being generally effected as indicated in Fig. 55

2 by the yielding pressure of the belt 20 in both lateral and radial directions against the portion of strand momentarily being wound.

The shaft 23 carries at its farther end a gear 38 meshing with another gear 39 mounted on a shaft 48 below and parallel to the shaft 28. Cams 4l and 42 are mounted on the near and far portions respectively of the shaft 40. Cam 4l actuates a lever 48 pivoted on any convenient support such as the shaft of the idler drum 24. Cam 42 actuates a similar lever 44 similarly pivotally mounted.

A continuous sheet of paper 3| or other analogous material, is drawn from the storage or supply roller 33 and passes over an intermittently actuated measuring roller 45 and under a complementary freely rotatable roller 48 mounted on a shaft 41 and urged toward the roller 45 by gravity or, as shown, by springs 48. Two parallel actuating levers 55 and 5I are secured rigidly at one end to a collar 63 surrounding the shaft 49 in which latter the roller 45 is rigidly mounted. The other ends of the levers are held spaced apart in a yoke 52.

The levers 58 and 5l are driven to and fro and turn the roller 45 in step by step unidirectional motion of varying amplitude by means not herein further described as not pertinent to the subject matter of the present invention, but which are completely disclosed and described in the above identiied application of which the present is a division.

The sheet of paper 3i emerging from between the rollers 45 and 48 passesrover a narrow supporting table 1i the left hand edge of which forms the fixed blade of a shearing device of which the movable member 12 is the other blade. The near end of the blade 12 is pivoted to the table, and a link 13 is pivetally attached at one end thereof to one arm of a lever 14 the other end of which is provided with an oiset stud 15 carrying in which is mounted an adjustment screw 16 the head of which rests on the lever 44 to be lifted thereby.

The paper 3l after passing the shears 1|, 12 is received within an air blast housing 11 whose base faces the shears and whose nose 18 points toward the point of application of the strand 30 to the winding on the core 29. This housing consists of two substantially identical complementary sections 19 and 88 and a description of either will apply equally to both. Thus the section 83 (Fig. 5) may be a solid block of metal formed on the surface which is applied to the section 18 with a transverse rearwardly sloping entrance ramp Si leading to a comparatively large recess 82 from the forward side of which a plurality of relatively wide parallel air grooves 83 separated byrnarrow paper guides 84 extend through the nose portion. One or more passages communicate from the recess 82 to an air duct 85 encircling the whole housing. The paper guides 84 may preferably be slightly beveled at their upper or rear ends to facilitate the passage of the paper thereover, there being a narrow space between the guides 84 of the block 88 and the correspondingly positioned guides of the superimposed block 19. A movable gate normally closes the outlet of the nose 18 and comprises. a flat bar 81 carried at either end on pins 88 upstanding from a transverse rod 89 resting on a transverse member 98 carried by a lever arm 9| and extending beyond the same to support an adjustment screw 92 whose head rests on the lever 43.

The lever 9| is pivoted by an integral collar 93 on the inlet of the air duct 86 and there actuates a valve (not shown) within the collar which controls the admission of compressed air from a source not shown through a pipe 94 to the air duct 86.

In operation a roll of strand is placed at 32, a roll of paper at 33 and a core 29 to be wound is placed on the spindle 28. The strand 30 is brought through the hole in the rod 34 and secured to the core at one end of the lateral peripheral surface thereof. The paper is brought between the rollers 45 and 46 and over the table 1| until its previously squared end matches against the shear blade edge of the table. The various driving gears and other interrelated parts and mechanisms are so proportioned and arranged that the sequence or cycle of operations and events now to be described will ensue in proper order and relation.

The motor 23 is then started, driving the drum 2| and with it the belt 20, which, running against the under side of the core 29r and against the strand 30 thereon, rotates the core to wind the strand thereon and simultaneously forces each turn of the winding to lie snugly and smoothly against the previous turn as indicated in Fig. 2. The core contemplated in the present disclosure is one in the form of a spool having a central drum of substantially square cross-section and enlarged parallel transverse heads. Hence the radius of the part of the core against the belt varies, and therefore the drum 25 is yieldingly mounted to allow the belt to accommodate itself to the core in all positions. When one layer of winding is completed the head of the core compels the first turn of the next layer to lie upon the last turn of the preceding layer and the rod 36 bumping against one of the stops 31 and rebounding slightly brings the second turn out beside the rst thus starting the winding of the iecond layer in the opposite direction to the rst.

The gear 38, ldriven by the core on the spindle 28, drives the gear 39 and hence the cams 4l and 42. A sheet of paper of suitable length, prepared as hereinafter described, is at this time lying in the housing 11 against the gate 81. At the moment when the last turn of a winding is completed, the cam 4| lifts the lever 43, the screw 92 and the lever 9i opening the air valve within the collar 93. Compressed air from the duct 94 enters the housing both above and below the sheet of paper through the duct 86, chamber 82 and grooves 83. The sheet is blown forward until its forward edge is caught by the incipient rst turn of the next layer of winding and is rolled around the preceding layer of winding by the belt 20 and is covered by the succeeding layer, the sheet being of such length as to wrap once around with a slight overlap. Thelever 9| in rising carries the bar with it forcing the pins 88V and the .pa-per stop 81 up to allow the paper to be blown out of the housing 11. The cam 4| immediately drops the lever 9i, cutting off the supply of air and bringing the paper stop 81 back over the outlet of the housing.

Evidently each layer of the winding is of greater circumference than the preceding layer and requires a longer sheet Yof paper to wrap around it. The length of each sheet is determined by the action of the paper feed roller 45 which is driven step by step by the levers 50 and 5|.

When the predetermined length of paper has been fed through the shears, the cam 42 lifts the lever le pulling the sheai` blade "l2 down to cut the paper off, and the latter slides down by gravity between the guides 84 and rests against the gate 81 ready for another cycle of operation as described.

Thus the apparatus winds strand on a core in successive helically Wound layers as a continuous operation, and at the same time measures out, cuts oi, and inserts pieces of sheet material, of predetermined and predeterminedly changing lengths, between consecutive layers of strand winding.

The accompanying drawings are purely schematic, many details not essentially of the invention being omitted as familiar to those skilled in the art, and the proportions of parts being distorted in some instances for clearness or com.- pactness. In particular the ratio of the gears 38:39 will be dependent upon the number of turns in each layer' of the winding.

It may be pointed out here that an important advantage of the present invention is that the pneumatic means therein provided for placing the sheet material on the article, by proper timing of the action thereof, permits the placing of the sheets in position to be caught and Wound by' the strand without any necessity of halting or even slowing down the strand winding mechanism, as is required in some machines of the prior art having mechanical devices for this purpose. Such deceleration and acceleration either makes it necessary to run the machine at a slow average pace or else may be the cause of racking the apparatus destructively, at least so far as its accuracy of operation and particularly of operative synchronism of functioning is concerned.

Another notable advantage is the simplicity of the means used to place the strand in snugly abutted coils in each layer of Winding and to reverse the Winding spiral in successive layers. There is no complex and delicate distributor mechanism to be driven in swiftly alternated reciprocation. The belt 20, which serves to drive the core in rotation, is made of laterally flexible and even laterally slightly elastically extensible construction, and in virtue of these qualities the belt serves also to guide and seat the wire properly as it is wound on. A belt for this purpose may be made of woven fabric with a rubber or similar covering |23 (Figures 6 and 7) thereover, the strands |2| of the fabric running longitudinally of the belt being closely juxtaposed and the transverse strands |22 being relatively widely spaced and loosely interwoven. With this structure longitudinal tensional stresses on the belt are unyieldingly borne by the straight and substantially inextensible longitudinal strands |2| While transverse stresses in the bending of the belt over the edge of an unfinished layer of strands 30 are yieldingly borne by the elastic substance of the covering |23, since the transverse strands |22 are only loosely and sinuously interwoven with the others and hence may lengthen and straighten or shorten and bend to go and come with the elastic covering transversely of the belt. It will be noted that a double function of the belt is to press the strand being wound both laterally and radially of the rotating article being wound against both the article and the previous turn of strand, and that this pressure is effected at the point of application of the strand to the article. The belt is effective for its purposes whether sheet material is being intercalated between layers of strand or not, and is therefore not limited in use to Winding both types of material simultaneously.

The embodiment herein disclosed is illustrative only and may be Widely modified and departed from without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for winding and distributing strand material on an article and having means to support an article rotatably to be wound, a longitudinally substantially inextensible and laterally elastically extensible member, and means to drive the member in peripheral contact with the article to rotate the same and to wind and distribute a strand thereon.

2. In an apparatus for winding and distributing strand material on an article and having means to support an article rotatably to be wound, a longitudinally substantially inextensible and laterally elastically extensible belt, and means to drive the belt in peripheral contact with the article to rotate the same and to wind and distribute a strand thereon.

3. In an apparatus for Winding and distributing strand material on an article and having means to support an article rotatably to be wound, a longitudinally substantially inextensible and laterally elastically extensible belt, means to drive the belt in peripheral contact with the article to rotate the same and to wind and distribute a strand thereon, and means to reverse the spiral of the strand being wound at the end of each layer of strand.

4. In an apparatus for winding and distributing strand material on an article of non-circular cross-section and having means to support an article rotatably to be Wound, a longitudinally substantially inextensible and laterally elastically extensible belt, means to drive the belt in peripheral contact with the article to rotate the same and to wind and distribute a strand thereon, and yielding means to permit the belt to move toward and from the axis of the article to follow the non-circular cross-section thereof.

5. In an apparatus for winding and distributing strand material on an article of non-circular cross-section and having means to support an article rotatably to be wound, a longitudinally substantially inextensible and laterally elastically extensible belt, means to drive the belt in peripheral Contact with the article to rotate the same and to wind and distribute a strand thereon, yielding means to permit the belt to move toward and from the axis of the article to follow the noncircular cross-section thereof, and means to reverse the spiral of the strand being wound at the end of each layer of strand.

ERWIN E. FRANZ. 

